1. Frank Lampard's
goal – England vs Germany (2010)
England
were trailing Germany by a goal and they looked to have equalised when Frank
Lampard's shot looped over Germany's goalie Manuel Neuer and bounced at least a
yard over the line prompting celebrations from the England players but to my
dismay, the referee Jorge Larrionda signalled that the ball had not crossed the
line and waved for play to continue.
2. Roy Carroll's drop
ball over the line – Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur (2005)
LMAO!!
anyone that remembers this incidence will always laugh out loud. Nobody in the
stadium thought there was any danger of a goal when United keeper Roy Carroll
tracked back to catch a speculative long-range lob by Pedro Mendes. Yet instead
of catching the ball, Carroll somehow let it bounce off his chest, over his
shoulder and a clear two yards over the line before he desperately clawed it
back out into the field of play. Somehow neither referee Mark Clattenburg nor
his linesman Rob Lewis that day spotted it - despite the fact that it was
obvious to just about all of the 67,962 people in the crowd that day.
3. Sulley Muntari – AC
Milan vs Juventus (2012)
Just
to prove it isn’t only English officials who have an inability to see whether
the ball goes over the line or not, Milan midfielder Sulley Muntari pops up
with a header from approximately a yard out. Although Buffon makes a valiant
attempt at palming the ball away from the line, it’s obvious to everyone else
in the ground that Muntari has found the back of the net – except the one guy
that matters.
4. Frank Lampard – Chelsea
vs Tottenham Hotspur (2005)
Lampard
was involved in more goal-line controversy a year on from the World Cup but his
'goal' was far less clear cut. The linesman had an extremely difficult call to
make when the Chelsea midfielder's shot was fumbled by error-prone Spurs
goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes and the shot-stopper had to scramble to keep it out
of the net. The officials allowed the strike to stand, despite replays showing
the ball had not actually gone over the line, and the visitors left Stamford
Bridge empty-handed after a 2-1 defeat.
5. Juan Mata's goal –
Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur (2012)
Chelsea
were edging the contest at Wembley 1-0 thanks to Didier Drogba's first-half
opener when Atkinson awarded the Blues a second through Juan Mata in the 48th minute.
The
Spaniard shot goal-ward through a crowded penalty box, but Benoit Assou-Ekotto
cleared the ball with his feet while on the turf before the ball crossed the
line.
Despite
having a clear sight of the goal, Atkinson almost instantly blew his whistle to
award the Blues the goal, a move which infuriated Tottenham's players.
By Oluwole Ola
Twitter: https://twitter.com/wolexis
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/oluwole.ola
